Content is missing after install

There are several reason why content in your site may appear missing after activating WPML. This may be due to incomplete language tables or to other plugins adding content without including language information.

Important – First Check for Errors

WPML can help you fix the problem and add language information where it’s needed. Before you do this, please make sure that your site is running without PHP errors. Read the FAQ on debugging WPML to see how to enable error output. Missing language information may be due to a sequence of actions, to missing resources or to a conflict with something. If your site has PHP errors, best to handle them first before working on the content.

If you see any errors, report them in our technical support forum. We’ll help you resolve them. If there are no errors, continue with the steps below, to add language information where it’s needed.

WPML’s troubleshooting page offers you several actions, which can help resolve missing content in your site. Go to WPML->Support->Troubleshooting. The troubleshooting link is located at the bottom right of the page.

WPML's support page

1. Add language information to content

First, try to add language information to content that doesn’t have languages. If you created content while WPML was inactive, or if other plugins create content and bypass the WordPress API, this content may not have language information and will not display for any language (both in the front-end and back-end).

Look for the “Clean up” section and click on Set language information. WPML will put all content without any language in the site’s default language.

2. Repopulate languages

WPML stores the available languages in a database table. That table might have missing entries due to incomplete initial installation of WPML.

Click on clear language information and repopulate languages to recreate WPML’s table of languages. If you have created custom languages, they will be lost during this operation and you will need to recreate them.

3. Reset all language information in your site

If all else fails and as a last resort, you can completely reset WPML’s language information and start over. Use the Reset section to permanently delete WPML’s configuration and the language information for all content.

Reset WPML

Check the check-box and click on the button. This operation cannot be undone. It will delete all language information from your site, getting it ready for a fresh install.

Then, go to the Plugins page and activate WPML again.

If problems persist, please also enable debug mode and check for any PHP errors and warnings during the activation.